Access Atlanta > The Newcomer > Archives > 2008 > October > 22
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Test your Atlanta speed and smarts.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Teams in this month’s Urban Dare race in Atlanta get ready at Central Park. Teammates Lauryn Bellamy and Caroline Smart and teammates Rustom Maneksha and Michael Beasley call for help.
It’s one thing to run a race through Atlanta and another to offer up a trivia-laden tour of the city. It’s another thing entirely to do both at once.
I wrote about a one-afternoon Urban Dare competition that started at Atlanta’s Central Park a few weeks ago. Fun to write about, fun to learn about, but could I have won? Nooooooo.
Is it a good way to learn the city? Yes, absolutely. Several teams I interviewed had only a casual or outdated knowledge of the city. Most said they wanted to know it better. Read the full story here.
Urban Dare is run a little like a scavenger hunt, and a little like NBC’s “Amazing Race” reality TV show. Teams get a booklet filled with clues, questions and directions: Shoot pictures of Atlanta landmarks, build human pyramids of unsuspecting non-competitors, get a hat and a bite to eat at the world’s largest drive-through.
Urban Dare officials create new questions each time by wandering around, looking for landmarks and reading plaques that are often overlooked. Each team paid a $90 fee to compete for a $300 prize. At the designated day and time, they’re off on a route of their own design. (The next race in Atlanta is on April 9.)
Maps, reference books, laptops and cell phones are welcome. Cameras and comfortable shoes are a must. Bikes and cars aren’t allowed, but competitors can hop on public transportation.
One clue referred to a scene in the first thriller featuring the character Hannibal Lecter, filmed in Atlanta in the 1980s. “Get a picture of the entrance to this building found on Peachtree Street,” it said.
A little hunting online revealed the movie was “Manhunter,” not the more famous “Silence of the Lambs,” and the Peachtree Street building that portrayed Lecter’s mental institution was the High Museum of Art.
Below the cut, check out some of the questions and clues that racers faced. The winners did it all in about 2 hours and 22 minutes. How well would you have done?
Clues
Hosford wrote a “Handy Guide” about the International Exposition held here (a little while ago). Take a picture of both your team members jumping for joy on the dock of the lake at this location.
It’s a wicked show tonight! Get a picture of both teammates with this building’s famous well-lit sign.
In the government district is a statue of a former Georgia governor pointing towards a large mural in the distance. Get a picture of both team mates with this mural behind you. (You’ll probably need to find a location closer to the mural.)
Been to the Underground? Prove it — get a picture of both team members and a sign indicating the Underground and “the world’s most recognizable trademark,” all in the same picture.
What is a 1929 Federal Six? Whatever it is, you can see one in the Underground — get a picture of both of you standing with it.
There is a national park in tribute to a famous leader of peace, in which there is a statue honoring another famous leader of peace. Get a picture of your team members with this statue.
At the capitol building is a statue of the 39th president. Surrounding the statue are 13 words or phrases used to describe this person. One of those words or phrases ends uniquely — which one is it?
End the race at the restaurant that is the world’s largest drive-through - although you should come inside, get a hat and a bit to eat, and find us to finish your last puzzle.
Answers
It was “Hosford’s Handy Guide to the Cotton States and International Exposition, Atlanta, 1895,” written for the event at Piedmont Park. Teams should have snapped a picture at the dock for Lake Clara Meer.
“Wicked” is at the Fox Theatre, where teams should have gotten a photo of the sign.
There’s a statue of Gov. Richard B. Russell Jr. that points toward a whale mural on Underground Atlanta.
Teams could have gotten a photo of the rotating Coke sign on Underground, or they could have held up a Coke bottle by an Underground sign.
It’s a car parked inside Underground Atlanta.
Teams were looking for a statue of Mohandas Gandhi at the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site.
Teams were looking for a statue of Jimmy Carter at the Georgia State Capitol. The only phrase that ended in a “-th” was “man of faith.”
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